2. amps-preamps
  3. 132005-13233

Cary SLP-05 with Pass Labs X-250

Would these be a good match? Looking for a warmer sound through my Egglestonworks Andra II Speakers. I’m running a pair of JL Audio F113 fathoms on the bottom so I thought it might be a great match up. My second choice is getting a PASS LABS XP-10 and sticking with all solid state! I listen to all genres of music at moderate to loud levels. Any advice would be great! 
boisehomes

Showing 3 responses by georgehifi

georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
dpac996
  did many thing right but the overall balance was too hot / forward in the upper midrange.

As with the OP's amp it will roll of early in the bass, not quite as much as the OP's amp, as your friends x250.5 is a little higher input impedance at 20k balanced, but still not a great match with the Cary's 3.4k output impedance at 20hz. This could be the reason for sounding "hot". Tube rolling as little effect on this type of impedance matching problem.

Cheers George   
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
However, I got significantly higher values for the unbalanced output of 1500–1600 ohms in the midrange and treble, rising to 3400 ohms at 20Hz,

Almarg is right, I got the 400ohms from the Cary website.
This is why Stereophile is such a good site for seeing what's really going on with products, as their measurements can't be disputed.
In this case your Cary is not a good match for the Pass X-250. either get a pre with low impedance across the whole audio band, or get an amp that has 50kohm or more input impedance. 

Cheers George 
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Your X.250 has an input impedance of 11kohm this would give trouble to many tube preamps that have high output impedance.
But your lucky as the SLP-05 has a low output impedance of 400ohms which is a good match for the X.250, maybe it has a solid state output buffer or has a maybe cathode follower tube buffer.

Cheers George
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